Style: High Victorian
Architect: Alexander Carrie
This house is in the F. H. Latimer Survey- First Addition to the Town site 1891-1895.
One owner of note was Francis Freeman Payne. Mr. Payne was the Manager of the Nelson Daily News, a Director of the Trail Daily Times, as well as being responsible for establishing the Radio Station CKLN 10. Mr. Payne was also instrumental in the creation of the Canadian Press taking up the challenge from newspaper pioneer, Francis John Deane.
The Honourable Judge Eric Powell Dawson, Yale educated lawyer and World War One Veteran, with wife, Ella, filled the house with children. Judge Dawson was the son of the Reverend William Dawson, a noted clergyman and author. The Dawson descendents reside in the area to this day.
This house is a fine example of how a structure can retain its heritage exterior while being transformed into a modern, comfortable and functional home. The present owners have concentrated on the basic structure as well as adding energy efficient storm windows and replacing a large, inefficient furnace with a more efficient heat pump. A ceramic fireplace, crafted in the Kootenays, has replaced the original.
Although this house is modern in its interior the walls still hold the memories of over a century of family life. Before you go, stop and listen. You may just hear the excitement of the Dawson children gathering their belongings for a day on the lake or the sounds of the Lynch girls laughing and skipping their way out of doors. No matter the construction the very essence of this house will not change – it is a family home.
This home was part of the 2008 Heritage Home Tour.
* In 1873 women who owned property in British Columbia became the first in Canada to secure the right to vote in Municipal Elections.
The photographs of Walter W. Beer (1899) and Judge and Mrs. Dawson (1948), are courtesy of the Shawn Lamb Archives. http://www.touchstonesnelson.ca/
